The Chairman of the Presidential Tax Reform Committee, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, has said that the bill when passed would exempt 97 per cent of the Nigerian informal sector, hinting, “we are quite optimistic that sooner rather than later, the bill will be passed.”
This is as economic experts in the country advised that the federal government must improve its deficit to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio and its daily oil production figures to three million barrels per day to meets its industrialisation ambition.
Oyedele who stated this at the Agusto&Co 2025 Economic Roundtable, held in Lagos, said that the informal sector must be allowed to thrive before they can be taxed.
According to him, “We just have to have a mindset shift that the money we are looking for is in the informal sector. It’s wrong and not supported by data. There is no evidence to show that our revenue is in the informal sector. That is why with the tax reform bill, we have exempted almost 97 per cent of the informal sector.
“They are trying to survive. Let them be. When they grow and they have the capacity to pay tax, then let them pay. Someone says, but all the companies in Nigeria will now be small businesses. I say, no, that’s because they are not using technology. If they’re using technology, the system will tell me. So certainly, there is a big role for technology. Informal sector should be allowed to thrive; Let’s support them. They are all our people. They are us.
“So the 30 to 40 million small businesses and households are just trying to find meals to put on the table, to buy exercise books and pencils. So chasing them to pay taxes is wickedness, and we have to stop that now.”
For the Managing Director, Agusto&Co, Mrs. Yinka Adelekan, the country must work towards improving its deficit management and inflation which is affecting businesses.
“So in terms of the reforms, we think that some critical areas have been positive. Where would we want to see more? We like to see more in terms of deficit management. We are looking at a deficit to GDP ratio of 4.5 percent, whereas the fiscal responsibility act says the guidance is 3 percent. So we need to do more to moderate that.
“The persistent inflation, despite what we’ve already seen, it’s a concern, and it’s affecting a lot of businesses, it’s affecting the real sector, because of the high interest rates being used to combat inflation,” she said.
Commenting on the macroeconomic environment, a Senior Lecturer at Lagos Business School,Dr Doyin Salami said the economy is unstable, adding output growth must exceed population growth.
“To begin with, the economy is unstable. Stability in any economy has four conditions. Condition one is output growth must exceed population growth. You cannot have the agri-sector growing at about 1.5 percent and population growing at anything between 2.5 percent and perhaps 3 percent. You will run into trouble,” he said.
Oluchi Chibuzor
